British theme parks a rip off"say more than half of visitors

[Jake]

Re: British theme parks a rip off"say more than half of visi

I think me and Ben PA for about 50 quid back in 2007, but this was back in the days where a Tussauds pass got you in for free, and when Ryanair didn't have all the spiteful charges so you could ACTUALLY get a return for under £20.

But yeah, Ollie, that's a really good price to be fair. Furie, green doesn't suit you.


As for UK parks, I'd say that prices have gone up in recent years, but compared to a football game or something it's better value for money. Plus, the vast majority of customers will only visit once or twice a year.

EVERYTHING is going up. I think in a country where a pack of cigs is the best part of a tenner, not to mention the price of a Cinema ticket these days, amongst other things, £30 or even £40 for a 'special' day out isn't exactly horrendus. Like everyone else has said, you can get BOGOFs if you really want to.

 

[furie]

Re: British theme parks a rip off"say more than half of visi

I think me and Ben PA for about 50 quid back in 2007, but this was back in the days where a Tussauds pass got you in for free, and when Ryanair didn't have all the spiteful charges so you could ACTUALLY get a return for under £20.

But yeah, Ollie, that's a really good price to be fair. Furie, green doesn't suit you.

Are you sure? :lol:

Sorry, the point really is that at £50 for a day at Port Aventura (or £50 a day for four days) it's much better value than one day (or four days) at a UK park. However, how often do those opportunities come along for the majority of people on the days they're likely to visit parks? The deals and opportunities are there, but they're much less common than a 2-4-1 at a Merlin park, less common and I suspect less convenient even than a free day out courtesy of The Sun.

 

[Jake]

Re: British theme parks a rip off"say more than half of visi

^ I wasn't saying that it's better value, I was just throwing it in.

Besides, you CAN'T compare the cost of a UK National visiting PA or Alton because they're completely different types of trip. For a start, one is a day out and the other is a holiday. Plus, you don't know how many vouchers are available for the Spanish on an annual basis because you don't live there. I'm sure a lot of tourists who visit parks in the UK aren't aware of all the special offers and just turn up and pay. For example, I'd heard all these stories about how it was impossible to get half price entry into Gardaland, but whilst living in Italy I was constantly seeing BOGOF vouchers on the back of drink cans etc...

But anyway, ignoring special offers (which incluides BOGOF vouchers, even if they are easily available for Merlin parks), I'd say it was all proportional. PA is £38.50 Euro for a day, which is slightly cheaper than Alton (the most comparable British park), and Spain on average has a slightly lower personal income. On the other hand, Tusenfryd is a whopping £42 (going by todays exchange rate), and is a much smaller park (I'd compare it to somewhere like Drayton). However, Norway is generally more expensive so again, it's all proportional.

Once more... the largest parks in China (Chimelong Paradise and the Happy Valleys) were all around £20, which is actually a RIPOFF when you think about how much other stuff costs over there:

Metro ride - 20p
1 HOUR in a taxi - £10
Pack of cigs - £1

Oh, and one ride on the SLC in Beijing was £6. This money could otherwise buy you:

45 minutes in a Taxi
or
30 rides on the Metro
or
6 packs of ciggies
or
4 McDonald's Meals



That's probably more than the average Chink would spend anyway, seeing as the cities are so much wealthier. I bet less than half the population can actually afford to visit the parks over there.

So, what i'm trying to say is... British parks really aren't expensive compared to everything else, or even anywhere else when you look at it proportionally.

The main problem is that prices are rising at a much faster rate than most salaries, but I won't go into that...

 

[furie]

Re: British theme parks a rip off"say more than half of visi

Yep, spot on Jake.

I'm shocked by the comparative cost of the Chinese parks though, that's pretty crazy. I know nothing of the economy or culture though, so can't really comment further :lol:

 

[Pingu on drugs]

Re: British theme parks a rip off"say more than half of visi

Well it depends really. If you're going out to a theme park with a friend (or maybe two) it is fairly cheap, providing you get the discount vouchers. For example, I went to Thorpe Park with a friend with a buy 1 get 1 free ticket, and I got fastrack as well, all in all It cost about £40, after getting a couple of drinks. Although If you went with 5 people, without any discount offers, it is damn expensive!